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The Denver Nuggets are set to face the Golden State Warriors in the first round of the 2022 NBA Playoffs. The Nuggets have been among the teams with the most issues this season. They were without Jamal Murray due to a torn ACL suffered one year ago, and Michael Porter Jr only played nine games this year, due to back issues. Both will likely not feature in the playoffs, but the Nuggets still got a respectable record of 48-34 coming into the playoffs. While the Warriors are favorites, here are two reasons why the Nuggets will upset the Warriors in the first round of the 2022 NBA Playoffs.
Reasons for Nuggets upset over Warriors
They have Nikola Jokic
The old saying in basketball says that when you have the best player on the court, you always have a chance. With all due respect to Stephen Curry, the Nuggets are the ones with the best player on the court in Nikola Jokic. The Serbian center and current MVP has had one of the greatest seasons we have ever seen. Not only has he become the first player with 2000 points, 1000 rebounds, and 500 assists for the season, but Jokic also set the record for the highest PER since that statistic has been calculated. In terms of pure statistics, Jokic averaged 27.1 points, 13.8 rebounds, 7.9 assists, and 1.5 steals per game this year. He also added 58.3% shooting success from the field and 81% from the charity stripe.
However, the stats really do not do Jokic justice. While 7.9 assists is still an elite statistic, it could have been even higher if his more offensively talented teammates were available. The second-best scorer on this Nuggets team was Aaron Gordon, who averaged around 15 points per game this year. This has put the Nuggets as one of the four teams without two 20+ point per game scorers in the playoffs, together with the Jazz, Mavericks, and the Grizzlies. That is an important stat, simply because it shows what a mountain Jokic had to climb to get these Nuggets to a secure spot in the playoffs, especially since the Jazz and the Grizzlies have multiple offensive weapons that play on a fairly high level.
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In terms of his impact on the game, the biggest asset of the Joker is that he is versatile. Defensively, Jokic can have issues, especially if put in the pick'n'roll, something the Warriors do a ton with Steph Curry. Offensively, however, it is doubtful whether the best defense in the NBA, as the Warriors are, can contain the Nuggets superstar. If he is not feeling it in terms of scoring, Jokic can put up serious numbers in terms of assists. If the shots are not falling inside, Jokic can go to the perimeter and shoot from distance, whether it is a long two or a three-pointer, or vice versa. In simpler terms, Jokic can do so much that the Warriors cannot effectively plan to shut him down, as he will always find a way to impact the game offensively.
Curry and the Warriors have been struggling at times
Coming into this playoff series, the two teams are in a different situation. The Warriors are somewhat stumbling into it, putting up an 11-12 record since the All-Star break. Curry is also somewhat struggling, as he is far removed from his MVP-esque start of the season when Chef Curry was really cooking. On the other hand, the Nuggets are 15-9 since the All-Star weekend, and Jokic only made his MVP case stronger with his last few games of the season. He put up six games of 35+ points and 10+ rebounds in his last seven. Thus, the Nuggets are clearly entering this series in better form.
It is actually fairly strange what happened to the Warriors. In the grand scheme of things, they have had an amazing start and end of the season. The Dubs started with an 18-2 record and ended the year on a five-game winning streak. In the middle, there were some issues, and the Nuggets were one of the teams that used that. The Nuggets got two wins over the Warriors, albeit two fairly close ones. Obviously, they also had some great games in the second half of the season, even through that period, but it is a far cry from the incredible form the Warriors were in at the start and somewhat at the end of the season.
Curry has been below his standard in particular. The former two-time MVP started the season in the conversation for the award he won two times but has faded since. After opening the year with historic shooting percentages, Curry had a huge slump in the middle of the season. In the last ten games he played, as he did miss the last 12 the Warriors played in the regular season, Curry did regain some of his touch, shooting 50% from the field and 39.1% from behind the line. However, injury issues and the fact that he did slump for a large portion of the season can be a reason for hope for the Nuggets in this series.
